The joint effects of imagined contact and similarity with the protagonist of testimonial messages through identification and transportation

• Main Authors: Igartua, Juan-José, Wojcieszak, Magdalena, Kim, Nuri
• Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Social sciences::Communication; Narrative Persuasion; Testimonial Messages
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147612
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Two experiments carried out in Spain and the Netherlands tested the joint effects of imagined contact and similarity with a narrative protagonist on attitudes and behavioral intentions related to stigmatized immigrants. We advance a concept of optimal reception condition: imagining a positive interaction with an immigrant before reading a testimonial of an immigrant who is similar to the native audience. The optimal reception condition induced greater identification and transportation than the reference condition, leading to more positive attitudes and a higher intention of intergroup contact. The findings are discussed in the context of research on narrative persuasion and prejudice reduction.